6/11/2010 Friday – Arrived at the train station about
4:35. The ticket agent said the computer was down. No tickets until 5. I was
able to get my ticket at 4:50. LJ got his as well. Scouts were boarded before
anyone else about 5:40. The train was underway about 6:03. Jeff and I are the
only 325 members not having our seats face each other. The face to face seating
leaves very little leg room. Went through Crawfordsville at 7, Lafayette at
7:35, Rennsayler at 8:35, Dyer at 9:31, and Chicago at 11:05.

Crew 2 guarded the packs first in the Great Room from11:10
– 13:10. Crew 1 had 13:10onward. Part of Crew 1 played with a bouncy ball on the stairs. We made
our way to the boarding area. The train left on time. The boys spent a lot of
time in the Lounge car. The Attendant came on the PA at every stop and
commented. The Lounge car guy made a lot of comments and told us the rules:
bring money, wear shoes, throw trash away. I had a BBQ sandwich in the Lounge
car for supper.

I had an aisle seat and did not sleep well – nothing
to lean against. I donÕt think Curt would have appreciated me leaning against
him. I called home and let Jackie know everything is going well.

6/12/2011 Saturday – Got up a little after 7. Had
breakfast in the dining car. Was on the waiting list and had to wait quite a
while. Got off the train at La Junta for a little bit. Took pictures of the
front of the train and our car. Mike and Chris played hacke sack. Most of the
boys are in the Lounge. I called home and left a message. I went to the Lounge
and sat with Charlie, Jeff, and Edwin. Arrived in Raton on time. The bus took
us to McDonaldÕs. as we could not get to Philmont in time for lunch. Edwin went
to the restroom. He saw one of the buses leaving. He ran to our bus. The driver
closed the door just as Edwin got there. And told him he was too late. He did
let Edwin on. We saw some of Ted TurnerÕs bison on the way to Philmont. We also
saw some of PhilmontÕs bison. We got checked in and met our ranger – Ali.
It rained very hard during checkin. Ali got us to out tents and we stowed our
gear. We got our food and equipment and took it back to out tents in tent city.
We had tents 80 – 84. Supper was at 17:00. Some of the guys had meetings
at 17:45. Some of us went to the Trading Post. We went to Chapel at 19:00 and
the Opening Campfire at 20:30. We were back in camp a little after 21:00. Went
to bed shortly after.

6/13/2010 Sunday – Got up about 5:40 and showered.
Breakfast ay 6:30. Did pack shakedown after breakfast. Had to be out of tents
by 8:30. Crew pictures were at 9.Did a picture of both crews together as well as separate. Went to the
Trading Post until 10:15. Walked over to Villa de la Philmonte and did the
tour. Lunch at 11:30. Bus arrived on time at 13:00. Bussed a couple miles.
Reviewed lightning procedure. Started hiking at 13:46. Stopped at LoverÕs Leap
and walked out on it. Arrived at campground area. Checked map. Decided on one
of sites 23, 24, or 25. We picked 24. Pull the food and hung the bear bags. Set
up dining fly and tents. Started cooking supper. Like and Patrick went to fill
empty Nalgenes. Discussed bugs seen. Roger said something about the
Caterpillar. Curt and Steve figured it out. John took quite a while. We had
started on map symbols while waiting on the bus. AliÕs map was in cursive. John
couldnÕt read it. Roger mentioned being able to speak cursive. John said it was
the same as English. Gene and Edwin cooked supper of beans and rice. There was
an apple dessert. Steve and John cleaned up. Ali went through the sump procedures.
Hung the smellables. Had a crew meeting. Luke did the Duty to God. The crew did
Thorns & Roses. Ali told the loverÕs Leap story. Several of us pulled the
Oops bag down and put AliÕs backpack lunch in. The crew went to bed just before
9.

6/14/2010 Monday – got up about 5. Roger and I got the
bear bags down and sorted the food bags. Had breakfast and took down camp.
Started hiking about 7:30. Hiking went well. One of the boys dropped his stick.
Then someone kicked a rock. Hiked to the top of Uraca Mesa. We could see it was
raining at base camp.Started the
hike to camp. Had hail a little smaller than peas. It didnÕt last long. Took
about four hours to do todayÕs hike. We were invited up on the porch after making
a pack line. A staff member took us to campsite 4. Set up camp and hung the
bear bags. Had lunch. We did the challenge course at 14:00. The staff was Slim,
Emily, John, and Jack. The boys really enjoyed the challenge. We did memory
challenge where we had to repeat everyoneÕs dance prior to us then add our own.

Slim- Doug

John – Disco

Steve – Grocery cart

Luke – Bus Driver

Gene – Sprinkler with sound effects

Patrick – YMCA

Edwin – Elvis

Rick – Twist

Ali – Mash Potato

Curt – The Principal

Roger- Fast

There was a Ninja challenge where we had to try to contact
the person next to us after doing some kind of move. The person was allows to
move one step to avoid being touched. The boys did the platform where they all
had to be on it but could only use one foot. The did the laser challenge.
Everyone had to pass through the laser beams without breaking the beams. The
boys did the balance platform then the adults did the balance platform. The
adults were much faster getting into position and remaining balanced.

We had to move some of our tents when we got back to camp.
Fixed supper. Curt and I were the cooks. We had potatoes with beef and onions.
Corn was the second course. We had cookies and Ali fixed a pound cake with
chocolate icing. Cleaned up the dishes and hung the oops bag. Went to AdvisorÕs
Coffee. They had noodle jousting at 7:30. Gene was the best of our crew.
Campfire was at 8:30. Very good songs and stories. Back to camp at 9:30.

6/15/2010 Tuesday – Got up at 5. Went to Inspiration
Point to watch the sunrise. There were a lot of clouds on the horizon. We
watched until the sun was above the clouds. Ali talked to us about Philmont and
what it means to be here. Went back to camp and tore down. Ali filled out and
presented the Wilderness Pledge cards. We had breakfast. Ali left about 7:30.
It was after 8 by the time we got water and started. We did well getting to the
top of Uraca Mesa. We almost took the old trail. We did for a short distance. I
tried to call home from the top but it would not go through. I tried again
above Stonewall Pass. We had a line of sight to Cimarron. I was able to get
through. I talked to Jackie – 36 years today. We had lunch at Bear Caves
campsite 1. Arrived at Crater Lake just before 14:00. The staff is Moose,
Jimmy, Dirty Shirt (Logan), and Ben. We checked in and are in site 11. Did spar
pole climbing. At 16:00. They were very busy. Started supper about 18:00
– chicken and rice. It was very good. Went up to the cabin about 20:00.
It had started a light rain before we left for the cabin. The campfire was in
the breezeway. Very crowed. We saw a rainbow before the campfire got started.
We had a very good time. The music and stories were excellent. JimmyÕs fiddle
was made about 1840. Got into my tent about 21:35. Took care of my feet then
started writing. ItÕs now 21:59 and time for bed.

6/16/2010 Wednesday – Woke up at 4:40. Got up at 5:12
Had my tent down and my stuff up to my pack in about 10 minutes. I sorted the
food bags. TodayÕs lunch and breakfast were pulled out. There were 9 piles of 2
bags each. Those of us that had todayÕs lunch had 3 bags. Had breakfast and
finished breaking camp. Went up to the cabin and filled water bottles. The
whole crew got water. Gene asked Logan (Dirty Shirt) where the trail was. They
oriented the map. Logan asked Gene where the trail was and walked away. Logan
wanted to help but not tell everything. Gene turned out to be correct. We got
under way just before 8.We saw other crews and talked to a crew from Indiana.
We got to Fishcamp just after 12. We made a packline. The staff was eating
lunch so we did too.. We did fly tying at 13:00 and casting at 13:45.The boys
did some fishing – Gene, Luke, Patrick. We took the tour of Rayado then
left for Bear Canyon. We passed through Auga Fria. Got to Bear Canyon and took
campsite 3. We set up the fly and hung the bear bags. Supper was fixed –
veggie lasagna. It was very good. Curt and I did a water run after supper. The
water had a red algae in it. I went out with the other trek 15 crew and showed
them where we got water. I cut some wood for branding. They ere playing Ninja
when I got back. The crew went to bed shortly after that.

6/17/2010 Thursday – Got up at 5:02. Breakfast was a
cooked meal – eggs with sausage and pepper. Very good. Started hiking at
7:15. Edwin set a good pace. Got to Buck Creek but though it was Porcupine.
Went down the road then realized it we were headed in the wrong direction.
Backed up and found the trail. Arrived at Phillips Junction around 10. Got our
food. Had fresh fruit and other things from the swap boxes. Roger had his
picture taken with a girl crew. He told them about how his daughter had wanted
to come to Philmont. A little before 11 we were hiking. We arrived at Beaubien
Shortly after 12. We went up on the porch. Toolbox told us about the camp.
Staff includes Woodchuck from Nelsonville, Ohio and Matt from Woodstock, NY.
They put us in site 9. We ate part of our lunch. We had 5 hopefuls for the
horse ride at 13:00. They had 1 extra horse for 10 people. None of the boys
wanted to ride alone. We went back to camp and finished lunch. We had watched
some of crew J2 do branding. We took a log back to camp and cut some pieces to
brand. There was a piece of firewood in camp that we also cut. We went and did
branding. Gene and Edwin went ay 15:30 to help with the chuck wagon. Chuck
wagon was at 17:00 Very good – beef stew, biscuits, and peach cobbler.
Advisors coffee was at 18:30. Roger and I went. Talked to Karl, Mike, and
Charlie. Mike played hacke sack with Nick and Joel. Mike came and got me to
take a picture of some deer. I talked to the boys as they played. LJ and Mitch
came and joined in. I stayed for a little then went back to the porch. Went to
the campfire at 19:30. The staff was not organized. Not a very good campfire.
Walked back to camp with Edwin. Steve, Luke, and Patrick went and filled water
bottles. We had Thorns & Roses then went to bed. We had talked to J2. They
did the Peak and saw the plane – 1.5 hours to get there. They had a day
where they walked in a circle. They arrived back at the camp they had just
left. Their naviguesser did not get them where they needed to go. Karl will
check their navigation from now on.

6/18/2011 Friday – Got up at 6:05. Roger got everyone
else up at 6:20. breakfast had hot chocolate so we heated water for that.
Headed up to the main cabin for Conservation. One crew member from another crew
was about 10 minutes late. The two staff members went through the tools and
safety.The crew that arrived late
had to go way back into the woods. J1 and the other non-late crew worked
together. We didnÕt have to go back very far. Matt was our Conservation guy,
very laid back and very informative. We got to cut down a tree and start to
remove the stump. The saw cut was not straight and went too high. We had to
make the tree fall the opposite way from intended. It was not a big deal that
the tree went down the wrong way. There was nothing to be damager or in the
way. Steve, Edwin, and John did branding after Conservation. Curt and I got the
bear bags down for lunch. We left for Trail Peak around 13:00. It was hot and
dusty. We hiked to the top first and climber the tree at the geo-cache site. We
could see Baldy, Phillips, Base Camp, and Uraca. Took lots of pictures from the
tree. I had to change memory cards while in the tree. We then went to the crash
site. We stayed quite a long time. Edwin said he saw a bear. Hiked back to
camp. I did the hike without my hiking poles. Curt and I cooked supper –
spaghetti with meat sauce. We started eating about 19:20. Using the turkey bags
makes cleanup simple. Only personal dishes needed to be cleaned. The staff came
around while we ate checking sites. The water pump went out yesterday so they
restricted showers. They got it working again but we got back so late we
couldnÕt shower – no showers after 17:00. I went up and rinsed off the
dirt on my arms and legs with a trickle of water from the water bottle spigot.
Most crews were at the campfire so not really anyone to bother me as I washed.
I was cold so went to my tent to warm up and write todayÕs journal. The guys
are sitting around the campfire ring talking. I will go join them. Went to bed
at 21:45.

6/19/2010 Saturday – Woke at 4:44. Got up at
4:58.Left Beaubien at 7 in good
time. The hike went well to Phillips Junction. Arrived at 8:02. Got our food
– 60 bags. We managed to get it packed (6 piles of7 and 3 piles of 6). Left at 8:52. Made
good time getting to Crooked Creek and arrived at 10:08. The hike was easy. The
hard part was going from creek level up to the valley Crooked Creek run through
and that was fairly short. Molly greeted us and ran through the rules and
activities then went back to the cabin. Somebody said Òit ainÕt over until
weÕre out of poo.Ó The staff people are Andy, Molly, Josie, and Sally. Andy
took us to site 9. We made candles with Andy. Patrick formed his into a turtle.
Went back to camp and had lunch. Curt and I went and got water. I explored on
the way back to camp. I picked up a short pine log. I cut two board (very
warped). What was left looked like a small chair. Gene was able to sit on it.
We did the cabin tour at 14:30. It was very interesting. I took a lot of
pictures inside the cabin. We went down to the burros and garden. Gene asked
Molly for a date. She said no. Roger and Steve had gone back to the porch
earlier. I want to the porch and they said there was a mini-near in the swap
box. I had the camera ready and slowly opened the swap box. I took the picture
and the flash made the mini-bear jump. Molly walked arm in arm with Gene to the
porch. Luke and Patrick started cooking supper. Steve, Gene, and Edwin went to
get water. I went and helped. Supper was mac & cheese with some ham from
lunch. Roger threw a cookie and the boys dived for it as it fell into the dirt.
We went to the Advisors Coffee at 19:00. They rounded up the animals at 19:30.
The cow got out of the pen and they had to chase her. It took a long time to
get back. It took a long time to hobble her to milk. Had to be hobbled as she
is a beef cow. John and Curt milked her. DidnÕt have time for Gene to milk. The
cow had had enough. Then they did the poo flinging contest. Some of the crews
had mucked the burro pen. Patrick, John, Gene, tried the poo flinging. Went
back to camp to write this then to bed.

6/19/2011 Sunday – Left Crooked Creek at 7:30. We
stopped on the main trail below Crook Creek and worked on LukeÕs blister. We
used SteveÕs first aid kit and GeneÕs sewing kit. I used the needle to drain
the blister. Steve did Neosporin and moleskin. Arrived at Clear Creek at 11:50.
Set up camp in site 9. Had lunch. Black Powder at 16:00. When we arrived,
Wakeen asked if I rode a bicycle. I said ÒYes I do.Ó We did the fur trapping
about 14:30. We threw tomahawks for a while. Another crew finished the fur
trapping so we then heard the Beaver talk about trapping beavers. We went back
to camp for a short time then to the rifle range. Roger, John, Luke, and
Patrick put their hats out on the range. All nine of us got to shoot: one shot
loaded by the staffer and one shot that we loaded. I hit my son LukeÕs hat with
the shot that I loaded. The staffer said I hit the orange (LukeÕs) hat. I was
the last one to shoot. We discussed what route to hike to our last camp. Supper
was BBQ sauce with beef. We were wary as we thought the name should be Beef
with BBQ sauce. It was good. It had peppers and enough beef – almost a
chili. There was a cooked dessert – apple cobbler with cake. Steve cooked
it in the pot lid and used a turkey bag. The bag stuck to the lid. We had to
scrape it off. Spent a lot of time on it. The boys played hacke sack after cleanup.
Everybody in tents before 21.00.

6/21/10 Monday – Left Clear Creek at 7:30. We had
hiked quite a way up and had stopped at a level place. I pulled out the GPS and
checked. We were already at 11377. Arrived at Mt. Phillips at 9:20. Sat in
chairs. Took group pictures with Baldy in the background. I called home from
the top of Mt. Phillips. Talked to Jackie for a few minutes. WeÕve had good
weather here. She said theyÕve had rain a lot and another tornado. Arrived at
Red Hills at 12:30. Picked site 2. Ate lunch then set up camp. Roger, Curt, and
I put our feet into the creek. The water was very cold being snowmelt. The boys
were lying in the shade. Everybody took a nap after lunch. Gene and I pumped
water for supper. Supper was ok, not great. Fettuccini Prima Vera with Pilot
biscuits. Luke, Patrick, and I pumped water. Luke did Duty to God, John did
GIA. We did thorns and roses. The bear bags were hung. Finished thorns and
roses. Luke farted. Steve said Óreal men make other men move when they fart.Ó
Patrick, Luke, Gene,and Steve
played hacke sack. I took a picture of them. Edwin though we had to carry packs
up to the Tooth of Time. We explained we didnÕt have to. John went to bed
early. He wants to beat Roger up since Roger is usually up first.

6/22/2010 Tuesday – Up at 4:57. On the trail by 7:15.
Made good time up Big Red. Had lunch at the north end of lower Black Mt. Went
to the peak of Black Mt. and took pictures. I also got pictures of the
benchmarks. We encountered another crew that couldnÕt find the trail. They
hadnÕt gone far enough toward the peak. We started down. All the trails today
were very rough to travel – steep and rocky. We made it to the spring
(Schaefers Pass) and refilled on water. Ponderosa Park. Was still a mile away.
It was pretty much the same stuff we had all day. It was steep downhill and
rocky. We will have to climb back out tomorrow. Curt and I started supper about
18:30 as camp was set up. Stroganoff – it was good. Did thorns and roses
after supper. John did GIA. The bear bags were hung and dishes placed by the
sump. Everyone went to bed. It was a brutal day of hiking.

6/23/2010 Wednesday – Up at 4. On trail by 5:30. John
had an equipment failure before leaving camp. His tent was not fully stuffed.
He fixed that then put on his pack. His tent and sleeping pad fell off. He
fixed that and we went to catch up with the rest of the crew. Got water at
Schaefers Pass spring. Headed up the trail. We had 3 crews behind us. Curt was
leading because of blisters on his feet. They finally asked and did pass us. We
stopped and went to Schaefers Peak. Breakfast followed. We hiked on to the
Tooth. It was a long hike. We went to the top. Curt and Edwin only went about
¾ of the way up. I took a family photo with two sons – Luke and
Patrick. I also took a group photo minus Curt, John, and Edwin. John had just
gotten there as we were going back down.. We waited and waited. Luke and
Patrick went to look for John. They didnÕt find him. Curt walked a little way
up and yelled for him. Roger yelled that John had come down. We hiked down. It
was a long , hot, and dry hike. I took a group photo at the gateway. We went to
the Welcome Center at 14:30. From there we went to tent city, Logistics,
Equipment Checkin, locker, and mail. Curt turned in the locker key at Security.
Off to the showers. Feels good to be clean. I havenÕt had a shower since we
left Base Camp. Beaubien had a water problem and I wasnÕt able to shower there.
Supper at 17:45. We did not get back in time for lunch and we did not get a
trail lunch for today. It will be good to eat real food. Supper was good
– pizza. They called for seconds. I ended up having 3 pieces of pizza.
Some of the boys had 4 or 5. Went to Chapel at 19:00. Luke got me the Catholic
Bible and a rosary. We met back at the dining hall and walked to Closing
campfire. The campfire was good. Skit with flying minibears attacking the
scouts. Then a movie from 1941 followed by a recent slide show. I was up until
23:17 trying to fit the extra camp food into my pack. I was the 9th
crew member so we had an extra meal each time after Ali left.

6/24/2010 Thursday – up at 5:28 and showered. Got my
sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent attached to my pack. Breakfast was at 7.
Had to be out of out tents by 8:30. We left at 8. made a packline at the
Welcome Center. Went to Toot of Time Traders and decided on crew t-shirts. Got
on bus for Cimarron at 10:30 but it didnÕt leave until 11.. Lunch at Simple
SimonÕs Pizza. I shared a pizza with Edwin. Went through the shops. I looked at
the council strips at the ice cream store where I bought my flute in 2007. A
few minutes after we got there Miss Stacy arrived. I told her I bought a flute
from her 3 years ago and I called her Miss Stacy. She shook my hand since I had
remembered her name. Some of the boys bought knives. Talked to a store owner
where they have a shootout every night. Went to the park to wait on the shuttle
bus. Took the 13:45 bus back to Philmont. Our bus to Raton arrived just before
15:00. We got to Raton about 16:00. The other bus driver took part of the crews
to fast food. The station agent came out and said the but to La Junta would be
here in 20 minutes. Jeff tried to call Karl. He talked to Joel and informed the
others . We had loaded packs on the Amtrack bus while waiting for the Philmont
bus. They came back and we were underway at 16:30. Drove through a hail storm.
We found out after we got back from Cimarron that there is a bridge washed out
between Raton and La Junta, thus the bus ride. Arrived in La Junta about 19:00.
the train was there but needed to be backed into the station. Loading people
onto the train was difficult – many people waiting. We are in the last
car. They served us beef stew on rice due to the bridge problem. They started
with the car next to the lounge and worked to the end of the train. They ran
out of rice one person in front of me. We returned to our car. They called us
back in about 20 minutes. Did some reading and looked at Philmont maps.

6/25/2010 Friday – Up at 5:20. took some sunrise
pictures.. Ate breakfast at 6:30 with Roger and Steve. Read books into the
afternoon. Went to the lounge car and took pictures of the boys playing
Monopoly. . Took more pictures from my seat. We were running about 40 minutes
late. There were people onboard that had a connecting train at 16:00. We pulled
into Chicago at 15:40. They made their connection. Out two crews went to the
Great Room. Most ofus went to
McDÕs in shifts. While we waited after leaving the Great Room John F had his
pack on-Very unusual. Got on the train about
17:35. The train was rolling at 17:44. No Lounge car so no food or drink
available on this train. We were on the very first car. Luke kept bumping his
head when getting in or out of his seat. The only place to walk was to the
restroom at the other end of the car. The train pulled into the Indianapolis
station at 11:30. Both crews put their packs on and walked down the stairs to
the lobby. John and Terry pulled up in front of the station about a minute
after we reached the lobby. I opened the trailer and put my pack in then loaded
all the other packs as they were handed to me. We got back to the annex around
1:30. Terry and LJ took me home. I took a quick shower and got into bed a 2:00.
It was an excellent trek but itÕs good to be home.